Over the last five years, weather-related deaths are up 41% from 2014, while the number of weather events have increased 5% and injuries have decreased 40%. In 2018, 62,339 weather events resulted in 782 deaths and 1,797 injuries. Heat waves, winter weather, and wildfires were responsible for the most deaths during 2018. The largest number of reported injuries resulted from heat waves, winter weather, and high winds including thunderstorm winds. The most deadly weather events in the United States over the past five years include Hurricane Irma, wild fires in California, and Hurricane Harvey.
See the infographic for more details and explore the data details tab for information on weather-related injuries and deaths by state and time of year.
Data on weather-related deaths were compiled by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NCDC data may differ from data based on death certificates that appear elsewhere in Injury Facts.